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Burke is def a step in right direction. at what point will coach Horn unleash the youth potential, or will he continue to try and win with 34 year old vet Jack getting bulk of PG minutes in a losing cause? Willy, Dotson, Baker, Frank and now Burke deserve minutes to learn on the fly. If the mentors don't contribute to winning, what's the point in playing them? Less Lee, Lance, Jack.

Burke is def a step in right direction. at what point will coach Horn unleash the youth potential, or will he continue to try and win with 34 year old vet Jack getting bulk of PG minutes in a losing cause? Willy, Dotson, Baker, Frank and now Burke deserve minutes to learn on the fly. If the mentors don't contribute to winning, what's the point in playing them? Less Lee, Lance, Jack.

It’s the Knicks, so we’ll keep playing the veterans we should have traded at the deadline up until the last 2 weeks of the season when we finally bench them and then turn the team over to the youth, who will win 5 out of 6 to close the season.

Burke should be given a role player position as a change of pace guard. Jack is slow as a turtle and Frankie is not fast at all. I even like the idea of a bench of Burke and Ntilikina together since Burke can play off the ball whole Frankie ball handles and plays defense against the guards. Knicks constantly switch on defense so we need versatile guard wings that can defend multiple positions. Why not this as main bench lineup?
Burke
Ntilikina
Thomas
Beasley
O’Quinn

Burke should be given a role player position as a change of pace guard. Jack is slow as a turtle and Frankie is not fast at all. I even like the idea of a bench of Burke and Ntilikina together since Burke can play off the ball whole Frankie ball handles and plays defense against the guards. Knicks constantly switch on defense so we need versatile guard wings that can defend multiple positions. Why not this as main bench lineup?
Burke
Ntilikina
Thomas
Beasley
O’Quinn

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I'd rather see Frank as the off-guard in that lineup. The kid doesn't have the savvy as a PG or the handle plus he could learn to move without the ball making back door plays to get some easy buckets.

Trey Burke has played in six games for the Knicks since being signed from the Westchester Knicks of the G-League earlier this month and head coach Jeff Hornacek is glad that Burke offers something different from Frank Ntilikina and Jarrett Jack.

Burke scored 18 points in 18 minutes during the Knicks 107-85 win against the Suns on Friday. He had played a season-high 29 minutes in the team's loss to the Nuggets on Thursday night.

"The game changes a bit when he's out there," Hornacek said, via Anthony Rieber of Newsday. "With him, [Kristaps Porzingis] and shooters, we feel good about that group being out there. He's got the ability to get us some easy looks on the pick-and-roll, saw he's able to drive around big guys when they did switch. It puts pressure on the defense."

Hornacek confirmed that he wants to play Burke and Ntilikina at the same time, with the rookie playing off the ball.

"We tried to get Frank and Trey out there together," Hornacek said. "I thought that was pretty good. Frank was able to play off the ball a little bit. They lend different things for us. Trey had a great game with running the high pick-and-roll, which sometimes is kind of good to have, and Frank did a very good job defensively while he was out there."

I think after Lee gets dealt, we may see a heavy dose of Burke, Ntikikina,THjr, KP playing together in a small ball lineup. We may even start these 4 together.... they’ll definitely be the core of our closing unit.

Trey Burke has played in six games for the Knicks since being signed from the Westchester Knicks of the G-League earlier this month and head coach Jeff Hornacek is glad that Burke offers something different from Frank Ntilikina and Jarrett Jack.

Burke scored 18 points in 18 minutes during the Knicks 107-85 win against the Suns on Friday. He had played a season-high 29 minutes in the team's loss to the Nuggets on Thursday night.

"The game changes a bit when he's out there," Hornacek said, via Anthony Rieber of Newsday. "With him, [Kristaps Porzingis] and shooters, we feel good about that group being out there. He's got the ability to get us some easy looks on the pick-and-roll, saw he's able to drive around big guys when they did switch. It puts pressure on the defense."

Hornacek confirmed that he wants to play Burke and Ntilikina at the same time, with the rookie playing off the ball.

"We tried to get Frank and Trey out there together," Hornacek said. "I thought that was pretty good. Frank was able to play off the ball a little bit. They lend different things for us. Trey had a great game with running the high pick-and-roll, which sometimes is kind of good to have, and Frank did a very good job defensively while he was out there."

Wow, did Hornacek actually figure out what fans have been saying all week? Leave Ntilikina out there for his defense at the point of attack but have Burke out there to run the offense? Wow. Go Hornacek.

The skill level he displayed in Denver in posting a double-double (18 points, 11 assists, zero turnovers) was tantalizing. Then Burke delivered the knockout blow with 16 fourth-quarter points in Phoenix.

Burke’s emergence in the Valley of the Sun doesn’t mean the sun is setting on rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina, who played just nine minutes against Phoenix.

Quite the contrary: The Knicks have another lottery-pick point guard to cultivate who could make the team’s future a lot brighter.

Burke is 25 years old, locked up next season with a non-guaranteed second year and may be a diamond in the rough with mitigating circumstances and maturity causing his lack of success in Utah.

Has Ntilikina hit a rookie wall? Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek has all but admitted it. But that doesn’t mean getting Burke a big look reflects poorly on the 6-foot-5 rookie with the 7-foot wingspan and strong defensive instincts. Burke played 28 minutes in Denver, 18 in Phoenix.

Hornacek said on the trip he thought a G-League stint for Ntilikina was unnecessary. But a couple of games could get Ntilikina out of a current rut and restore some luster he’s lost in January. He needs to work on a still unpolished offensive game.

That’s why the Westchester Knicks exist: to easily slide a project 19-year-old point guard in for a few games for development.

Remember, the G-League was once called the Developmental League before a Gatorade sponsorship won out.

“The G-League shouldn’t have a stigma,’’ one NBA scout told The Post. “Frank doesn’t look like the same player I saw earlier in the season with his confidence.”

Indeed, Ntilikina doesn’t look the same player since his solid game against Dennis Smith Jr. in Dallas earlier this month. But assistant coaches knows he’s legit, and they voted him into the Rising Stars Challenge based on his defensive acumen.

If Ntilikina is going to play nine minutes for the Knicks, it isn’t the worst idea to send him to Westchester and grant more leeway as a shotmaker without worries. Ntilikina, averaging 5.3 points on 35.3 percent shooting, doesn’t even have to miss an NBA game.

Soon the Knicks may be finished, and after All-Star weekend, Ntilikina and Burke should share all the minutes. Veteran starter Jarrett Jack can move aside in the name of the future.

“Three is a lot to try to play when you got Timmy [Hardaway Jr.], Courtney [Lee] — those guys are definitely the [shooting] guards,’’ the scout said. “Trying to play three point guards, at some point it’s definitely going to be crowded. You got to settle in if you make a run with one starter and one backup. I don’t know how you manage that. You got the eighth pick you got to develop and a veteran [Jack] who’s a coach off the court for everyone. Jack is playing solid. And you got Trey who can help the team. At some point, someone has to get squeezed out.”

The moment Burke stepped on the court in Brooklyn 12 days ago, when these string of seven straight road games began, he gave the Knicks something different, a flair — an experienced pick-and-roller with a deft mid-range and 3-point shot.

According to a source, general manager Scott Perry, when he was with Orlando, would have taken either Burke or C.J. McCollum at No. 2 in 2013 if Cleveland had taken Victor Oladipo. Cleveland selected bust Anthony Bennett, Oladipo fell to Orlando and Burke to Utah at 9.

Perry wasn’t with the organization when Ntilikina was selected by Phil Jackson. Perry has his guy in Burke now. Two point-guard lottery picks — one an offensive specialist, one defensive — are better than one.

Wow, did Hornacek actually figure out what fans have been saying all week? Leave Ntilikina out there for his defense at the point of attack but have Burke out there to run the offense? Wow. Go Hornacek.

He was stubborn and lost his games because he sat Burke too much during the road trip. Burke played so well he forced hornacek to play him over turnover prone Frankie.

A 19 yr old rookie PG need to play off the ball having a vet PG run the show to mentor the rookie on the ball n off the ball throughout the rookie season (tandem Frank n Burke in the backcourt).
Both Frank and Burke need as much playingtime minutes together n apart in the midseason if both are KEEPERS for next season.
Hornacek is a poor developer of young guards !!!

A 19 yr old rookie PG need to play off the ball having a vet PG run the show to mentor the rookie on the ball n off the ball throughout the rookie season (tandem Frank n Burke in the backcourt).
Both Frank and Burke need as much playingtime minutes together n apart in the midseason if both are KEEPERS for next season.
Hornacek is a poor developer of young guards !!!

Agree 100% kiya..coach needs to use his Phoenix lineups of two point guards and stop relying on Thomas and McDermott. Besides Beasley and Lee the sf position has been a waste